


No Matter What

by princemito



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Anxiety, Getting Together, Goalie!Noya, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-02
Updated: 2016-12-02
Packaged: 2018-09-03 17:35:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8722915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/princemito/pseuds/princemito
Summary: After taking a year off from school, Asahi starts college fresh and ready to study hard. Yuu, a promising student athlete, has other things on his mind.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This was SUCH a joy to write, so huge thanks to [Jamie](http://mutsuki-s.tumblr.com/) for commissioning this! ;o; I hope y'all enjoy!

A year away from education had done Asahi a lot of good. He grew up a lot, figured things out, and felt like he had a purpose. His life was under control, or that was what he told himself. That was at least what his therapist told him to tell himself, so he did. 

Things were good.

He stood in the doorway of his dorm room, a duffel in hand as his father lugged a suitcase down the hallway. His mother wasn’t far behind with some boxes of miscellaneous items, each one meticulously labeled with his name, room number, contents, and which box it was out of the total number she had packed. It was a fresh start for him, and he couldn’t have been more excited.

Or anxious.

He had briefly corresponded with his roommate, but hadn’t met him yet. He seemed nice enough, but Asahi couldn’t help but worry what would happen if they ended up not getting along. He had heard so many horror stories about awful roommates, especially randomly assigned ones, and wasn’t sure if he would be able to deal with that on top of school work.

The fact that his roommate hadn’t moved in yet made him extra anxious, too. He didn’t know which bed to take, and he didn’t want to take the wrong one.

His dad clapped a hand on his shoulder and he jumped. “Well?” he asked.

“What if I pick the wrong bed?” he asked as his eyes looked from one bed to the other.

“You got here first, so you get to pick. Tough cookies for him,” his mom said as she joined them.

Asahi nodded; his mother was always his voice of reason. What was he going to do without her? Was he going to be that guy that called his mom every day? His conscience was conflicted. Either way, he walked up to the bed away from the window, thinking that maybe his roommate liked outside, and that would be a nice gesture to start him off in good standings. 

 

Asahi had just finished unpacking his desk when his roommate arrived. The rest of his boxes and luggage sat on his unmade bed. His parents had wandered off to explore campus a little bit, leaving their son alone.

He at first didn’t even realize that anyone had entered the room, and when he looked up at the slight breeze, he jumped.

His new roommate raised a hand in a silent greeting, face bored as he scanned the room.

“Hi,” Asahi said, his voice too loud in the silence. “You’re Kenma, right?”

He nodded, eyes on the empty bed.

“I left you the bed by the window,” Asahi said, Kenma’s silence weighing heavily on him and making his thumping heart nearly deafening.

“Okay,” he said and Asahi breathed again, thankful that he at least had a voice. “The window’s facing east,” he observed. “The sun will wake me up.” He walked over and dropped a duffel bag on the bed.

Asahi felt like he had made a wrong choice. He should have taken the bed by the window, and he began mentally kicking himself. “We can switch if you want,” he said. “I’m not too attached. I don’t mind getting up early.” That was a bit of a lie; none of his classes started before 9:30.

Kenma didn’t say anything else, he just unzipped the duffel and pulled out a package.

Asahi watched from his desk as Kenma climbed onto the bare mattress and pulled down the curtain rod. It appeared as though the package contained curtains. Kenma pulled off the supplied drapes and tossed them to the floor, then hung his own. When he closed them, the room would have been as dark as night, if not for the fluorescent lights from the hallway flooding through the opened door.

“I’m not a morning person,” Kenma said. “But this bed is fine.”

Asahi sighed, feeling relieved; Kenma didn’t seem too bad. He momentarily entertained the thought that everything was going to be alright.

\--

Going to school 200 miles away from his best friend was turning out to be the worst idea ever. Yuu had already managed to physically run into three people, four tree branches, and a trash can while excitedly texting his long distance pal. They were going to make this friendship work, though, they were both determined. Yuu would just have to work on his peripheral vision and multi-tasking skills. But that was what college was for, wasn’t it? Learning new skills?

His parents had already left and he was wandering campus on his own, filling in Ryuu on everything he saw and all the things he was already excited to show off when he came to visit. He nearly tripped over an overly-labelled suitcase in the hallway as he made his way back to his room, curious to meet his roommate in person. After unlocking his door and looking around, though, he found that the other half of the room was still vacant, so he turned back to the hallway to see who he could find.

The hallway was filled with a clutter of people, boxes, and other luggage. Most of the doors on his hall were open and he peeked into them one by one. Despite all the people around that he was eager to meet, they all seemed busy with their own thing, and he didn’t much want to interrupt. 

As he made his way back down the hall to his own room feeling slightly defeated, a family emerged from a door a few past his. He paused as they exchanged pleasantries, hugging each other and all that. It warmed Yuu’s heart a little as he recalled his own mother’s cold departure; it was always all business with her.

The student—Yuu assumed he was a student, anyway—was taller than both his parents, though he seemed to have a bit of a slouch to him. His hair was pulled back into a bun, some lower strands loose and brushing his neck. As his head turned slightly, Yuu could see the neatly trimmed patch of beard on his chin, causing him to run a hand over his own hairless face with a bit of jealousy. The student seemed to be offering to walk his parents out, but they insisted that they would be fine. Yuu pulled out his phone and discreetly snapped a picture, sending it to Ryuu with the caption, “theres a 30yo living down the hall”. 

The parents left and Yuu’s neighbor turned to retreat into his room, but his eyes caught Yuu’s before he made it. He offered a bashful smile and a little wave, which Yuu returned, and then disappeared. Yuu opened the door to his own room, feeling more flustered than he felt like he had any reason to be.

He flopped down on his bed.

> omg ryuu

> he smiled at me and hes rly cute

> shit man im so gay

\--

Classes started and Asahi was swept fully into college life, only finding time to call his mom once. He worked hard to keep himself organized and on track, separating syllabi and notes into color-coordinated binders. Despite his attempt at organization, though, his desk quickly became a warzone and he soon began doing his homework on his bed, a decision which was in full conflict with his better judgment.

That was where he was when Kenma returned from the dining hall one evening. He pulled out his earbuds and greeted him, not expecting any lengthy conversation.

“I met one of the guys from down the hall,” Kenma said as he kicked off his shoes and climbed onto his bed, which the two of them had decided to bunk a couple days prior. It didn’t seem like the best place to be for a conversation, but he poked his head over the side as if he wanted to continue.

“Oh?” Asahi asked, setting his pencil down and instantly losing it in the folds of his comforter. He had at least vague knowledge of everyone on their floor, but hadn’t gone out of his way to get to know any of them.

“He was asking about you.”

“M-me?” Asahi asked. “Why?”

Asahi saw his roommate’s shoulders rise and fall before he retreated back from the edge of the bed and disappeared from his view. “I told him he should stop by and talk to you himself.”

“Who was it?”

“Dunno,” Kenma said, marking the end of the conversation.

Asahi looked down at the notes he had open in front of him, but he wasn’t focused on them. What could someone possible want with him? He tried to think of anything he might have done to upset anyone, but nothing was coming to mind. In the last couple of weeks, Asahi had done nothing but keep his head down and try to stay out of the way; college was a busy, fast-paced place, and the last thing he wanted was to inconvenience anyone. He instantly felt bad that he had inconvenienced Kenma, even though his roommate didn’t seem too bothered by the encounter. He wondered if anything bothered Kenma.

A knock on their door caused him to start.

“That’s probably him,” Kenma said, making no move to answer the door.

Asahi got up and went to see who it was. When he opened the door he found their RA smiling up at him. “Hey, man, just wanted to remind you guys that there’s a floor meeting tonight. You’re both going to be there, right?” He looked past Asahi to where Kenma was once again leaning over the edge of his bed.

Kenma nodded and Asahi said, “Yeah, we’ll be there. Eight o’clock, right?”

“Yeah, man,” he said. “See ya.” He turned and headed to the next room.

Asahi closed the door and returned to his bed.

Kenma looked like he wanted to say something, his eyes following Asahi, but in the end, he retreated without a word.

\--

It was almost eight and Yuu was about to leave for the floor meeting. His roommate was hunched over his desk, his nose inches away from a biology textbook, and Yuu nudged him. “You coming to the meeting, Keiji?” he asked.

His roommate gave him a weary look that lasted only a split second. “I’m busy,” he said.

Yuu shrugged, not wanting to be one to argue. In the short time they had been rooming together, he had learned that Keiji didn’t much care for being bothered. He was taking more classes than Yuu thought was even allowed, and worked part-time on top of that. He was always still up working when Yuu went to bed, and was gone by the time he got up, leaving Yuu to wonder if he ever actually slept. It would be a lie if he said he wasn’t envious of his work ethic, though; Yuu himself was a chronic procrastinator who couldn’t focus on anything for longer than twenty minutes, even with deadlines breathing down his neck. “I’ll tell them you’re MIA,” he said. “I’ll give you the deets later.”

“Sure.” Keiji had already turned his attention back to his homework. Yuu knew that he wouldn’t be interested in the “deets”.

Yuu let the door close softly behind him, and as he turned, he nearly ran into the tall guy from down the hall. “Oh, Asahi!” he said, too startled to even consider it might be weird that he knew his name, since they hadn’t even talked yet.

“Uh,” Asahi said, blinking in surprise.

“Oh, sorry. I don’t think we’ve officially met? I’m Yuu.” He pointed a thumb at his closed door where his name was hung. “We have English together,” he offered.

“Oh,” he said. “Sorry, I didn’t realize…” He glanced away.

Yuu laughed. He was even cuter up close. And somehow, he didn’t seem so big. “It’s okay! You seem really focused. I like that.”

Asahi blushed. “Thanks.”

“Are you going to the floor meeting?”

Asahi nodded.

“Where’s your roommate? Kenma, right?”

“Yeah. He had to go to the bathroom,” Asahi said, and then looked like he had something else to say. He chewed his lip for a moment, but remained quiet.

“Alright, cool,” Yuu said, filling the silence. “We should go, then.”

“What about your roommate?” Asahi asked, then glanced at the door. “Keiji?”

Yuu began walking and shrugged. “MIA,” he said.

“Oh.” Asahi followed.

The floor’s meeting room was about half-full when they got there. Yuu took a seat near the front and beckoned for Asahi to join him. Asahi glanced over the other students nervously before ducking down and taking a seat. Yuu thought he was practically deflating and felt a little bad. He looked toward the door just as the bleached head of Asahi’s roommate appeared. Yuu watched as his eyes narrowed on Asahi near the front, flicked quickly and curiously toward Yuu—who flashed a winning smile—then retreated to the back of the room.

\--

Asahi was overly aware of everything in the room. As he sat next to Yuu, he didn’t move a muscle, and if he had a choice, he wouldn’t even be breathing. He hated sitting in front of people and every inch of him longed to move to the back row so as not to obstruct others’ views. But there he was, sitting near the front next to Yuu, who was so small he was probably never in the way. He wondered if he was the one that had talked to Kenma, and decided that if he was, there at least didn’t seem to be any animosity.

As he sat there unmoving, Yuu fidgeted endlessly beside him. He didn’t want Yuu to know that he had noticed; he didn’t want him to feel bad for being a distraction. And he was definitely distracting. Their RA had started the meeting as some guys still trickled in, and Asahi had no idea what he was even talking about. He kept his head low and ears alert to his floormates, who seemed just as distracted. Next to him, Yuu pulled out his phone, his leg shaking relentlessly.

Asahi still didn’t move.

The meeting only lasted maybe twenty minutes and Asahi had never felt so relieved as when it was over. As soon as their RA dismissed them, he shot to his feet. He started for the door but Yuu stopped him.

“Hey, have you eaten yet?” he asked.

Asahi turned back to him as other guys pushed past him to get back to whatever they had been doing. “Uh, no,” he said.

“I was gonna head over to the dining hall if you wanted to join. If you’ve got other things to do, though, that’s cool.”

He glanced over as Kenma passed by with some sort of look that he hadn’t learned to read yet—Kenma had so many subtle looks that Asahi needed an entire dictionary for—but he didn’t say anything. He supposed he was hungry, and Yuu seemed nice. “Okay,” he said.

Yuu’s face lit up in the most stunning grin Asahi had ever seen. He felt like someone had opened a window to fresh mountain air and he had never felt so alive. He was so thrown off that it took a moment for him to realize that Yuu was talking. “—stop by my room.”

Asahi just nodded. “Yeah, I need to grab my keys,” he said, hoping it made sense in context with whatever it was Yuu just said.

With an exuberant nod, Yuu headed toward the door of the nearly empty room. A couple of guys were left talking to the RA. Asahi gave him a small nod as he followed Yuu out into the hallway.

They stopped at Yuu’s room first, and he invited Asahi inside. “I’ll just be a minute,” he said. 

Asahi stepped into the dim room and Yuu didn’t even turn a light on. The only light came from one of the desks, where Asahi saw Yuu’s roommate hard at work on something.

“You didn’t miss anything,” Yuu said to Keiji as he dug around on his own desk. Keiji didn’t make any sign that he heard Yuu or even noticed his presence. “You wanna take a food break? We’re going over to the dining hall before they close up.”

Keiji glanced over at Asahi, then back down at his textbook. “No thanks,” he said.

“C’mon, Keiji, at least say ‘Hi’,” Yuu chided as he found what he was looking for. “This is Asahi from down the hall.”

Keiji looked back up and Asahi gave a small wave. “Hello,” he said.

Keiji nodded once. “Pleasure,” he said, then turned his attention back to his work.

Asahi had grown accustomed to people of few words, thanks to Kenma. But Keiji was something else entirely. Yuu walked back toward Asahi and gave Keiji a wave that he didn’t even see, and Asahi backed out into the hallway.

“Don’t mind him,” Yuu said as he closed the door. “He’s a nice guy, he’s just hella busy.”

Asahi nodded, pretending like he understood. 

“I dunno how he does it,” Yuu continued as the two of them walked down the hallway toward Asahi’s room. “Just seeing him study is exhausting.”

Asahi opened his door and let Yuu inside. Kenma looked up from where he was laying on his bed. “We’re going to the dining hall,” he said. “I just needed to grab my key.”

“Hey, Kenma!” Yuu said with a friendly wave.

Kenma didn’t even say anything as his eyes slid from Asahi, to Yuu, and back down to his game. Asahi grabbed his key and went back to the hallway.

“I’ll try not to mind him,” Yuu said with a gentle smirk. “I appreciate his bluntness, though.”

“So you were the one that talked to him?” Asahi asked before he could stop himself.

Yuu laughed. “Yeah,” he admitted as they left the building. The dining hall was just across the quad. “He wasn’t very helpful, but he was honest.”

“That’s Kenma for you,” Asahi said with a small sigh.

They walked the rest of the way in silence. Asahi slowed his pace so that Yuu wouldn’t have to run to keep up with him, but he still seemed to be walking in double-time with his hands nestled in the pocket of his hoodie.

He hadn’t really been out with anyone—not that going to the dining hall could really be considered a social outing—so he was a little nervous. He tried to remember Yuu from English class.

“Have you started that reading yet?” he asked as they stepped into the line to get into the cafeteria. There were only a few dining locations on campus, but Asahi mainly went to this one since it was so close to his dorm. They seemed to have a decent variety of food, too, so that was nice.

Yuu laughed nervously and handed his ID card to the attendant to swipe him in. “Not exactly,” he admitted, waiting for Asahi to get his card swiped, too. “I’m really bad at keeping up with readings, actually…”

Asahi gave him a surprised look. “What if we have a quiz tomorrow?”

Yuu shrugged. “Then I’ll lose a few points, no big deal. I learn more from the class discussions, anyway. It was enough to get me through high school. Besides, I don’t have a lot of free time between classes and practice, and I’d much rather spend my time how I want to instead of busy with books and shit.”

“’Practice’?” Asahi asked.

Yuu grabbed a tray and flashed him a grin. “I’m on the soccer team!” he said. “I’m still second string since I’m a freshman, but our first string goalie honestly isn’t that great, and I’m pretty sure I can get that spot before the end of this season.”

Asahi forgot how to walk for a moment. “Oh,” he said, unable to properly convey the awe he was feeling. 

“What about you, Asahi?” Yuu had already moved on to the buffet line.

Asahi grabbed his own tray and followed. “Uh, I don’t play any sports,” he said.

Yuu laughed as he slopped something on his plate. “About the reading,” he clarified.

“Oh,” Asahi said, instantly flushing. “I was skimming it earlier. I think I read this story in high school.”

“Was that a while ago for you?” Yuu asked.

“Huh?”

“High school?” Yuu said. “I mean, you just look older than 18. I mean, I don’t mean that meanly!” he added. “You just seem older. I mean…”

Asahi looked down at his empty tray. “Ah, no, no it’s okay,” he said, chuckling. “I’m 19, actually. I took a year off after high school...” He didn’t know why he was embarrassed; it just wasn’t a common thing for people to do. He didn’t want Yuu to think he was stupid or anything. 

Yuu’s eyes lit up and he seemed to grow a couple inches. “No way!” he said, his excitement surprising Asahi. “I’ll be 19 in October!”

“Happy early birthday,” Asahi said, relieved that that was what Yuu took away.

Yuu laughed and gently punched his shoulder. “Thanks, Asahi,” he said with a grin, dumping more food onto his plate.

Asahi wasn’t particularly hungry, so he didn’t load up his tray too much.

“Can I ask what you were up to during your year off?” Yuu asked.

Asahi shrugged. He still wasn’t able to fully justify it to himself and wasn’t quite up to talking about it.

Yuu seemed to understand. “I think that’s cool, though. I’m really only here for the soccer,” he admitted. 

“Do you think you’ll go professional?” Asahi asked.

“That’s the dream,” Yuu said, his tray heaping.

Asahi followed Yuu to a table, his own tray only a fraction of the size of Yuu’s. “I bet you can do it.” His voice was quiet and he kept his eyes averted.

Yuu seemed amused by his vote of confidence. “I know I can, but you haven’t even seen me play,” he said.

“Well, you sound confident,” Asahi said, staring down at his plate.

“I mean, of course I am, I’m awesome!” Yuu said through a mouthful of food. He swallowed without hardly even chewing, then added, “But you should come see a practice sometime. If you have time, I mean. You’re probably pretty busy… What are you studying, anyway?”

Every time Yuu opened his mouth, so many different conversations were started, and Asahi had to carefully decide which one he wanted to chase. He decided to follow the most direct question. “Anthropology,” he said.

“Whoa! Cool!”

Asahi looked up and was greeted by that grin and those sparkling eyes again, and his heart nearly jumped out of his chest. Hanging out with Yuu couldn’t possibly be good for his health. 

“What got you into anthropology?” Yuu asked, his face flooded with genuine curiosity.

Asahi didn’t want to admit that his fascination actually started with archaeology thanks to a childhood obsession with Indiana Jones, so he just shrugged and offered, “I’ve just always found the development of cultures to be really interesting.”

“That’s so cool.” He rested his chin on his fist as he pushed around some food on his plate. “I’m just studying sports medicine sorta as a default, I guess. I just needed something to study, and that makes sense. Y’know, if all else fails with my soccer career, I can always just take care of other athletes. Plus, I think it’ll help me understand my own body, too.”

“That’s really smart,” Asahi said, his heartrate returning to normal even though his face was still warm. There was so much more to Yuu than he had originally thought. He was a ball of energy that overwhelmed him at first, but he seemed to be breaking through the layer of blinding sunshine and discovering an inner warmth that left him feeling tingly all over. It was still early, but he thought that somehow he was going to enjoy this new friendship, even though Yuu was like no one he had ever befriended or even met before.

\--

Yuu and Asahi parted ways in the hallway and as soon as he got into his room, Yuu collapsed on his bed with an untethered grin. He pulled out his phone to find that he had texts from Ryuu that he had been ignoring.

>> good luck man

>> how was ur date?

>> must be goin pretty good

>> cmon man dont leave me in the dark

>> brooo

>> how was it???

>> how is he???

>> fuckin answer me man

>> yuuuuuuuuuuuu

>> broooooooooo

> sry man it was awesome

> hes so cool

> hes only 19!!!!!!

> dude im in so deep

> idek if hes gay or anything

> but man

> ive got it so bad

> wish u were here to help bro

> ud prolly hate him

> hes so nice

>> ew gross

> lol

Yuu was texting so furiously that he didn’t even notice that his roommate was talking to him.

“Sorry, man, what?” he asked as he looked over to where Keiji was turned around in his chair.

“I just wanted you to know I’m going to library. I’ll try not to wake you up when I get back.”

Yuu waved his hand. “No worries,” he said, still grinning. “I sleep through it all, anyway. Do you even sleep?”

Keiji gave him a weary look before continuing to put his books in his bag. 

Yuu buried his face in his pillow. He was so smitten that he couldn’t even deny it. There had been guys he’d been interested in before, and celebrity crushes he had, but he could tell that this was the real deal. He didn’t even know what it was about Asahi that had him so infatuated; he was unknowingly good-looking, and he had learned over the course of the last hour just how nice he was, but he couldn’t have known that before. Was it just his looks? Was there something else about him that drew Yuu in? He really couldn’t say, but he couldn’t stop himself from imagining Asahi lifting him up in those arms and holding him close and carrying him around and kissing him all over his face.

>> did u get his number?

> not yet

> but like hes right down the hall

> and in my english class

> so its not like ill never see him yknow?

>> dont rush things bro

> shhhh

> shhhhhhhhhhhhh

>> lol what?

> ill do what i want ryuu

>> alright alright lol

 

Yuu logged himself off his game with just enough time to make it to his English class. He thought that maybe, just maybe, he’d be able to catch Asahi before he left, too, and maybe they could go together. With his bag in hand, he hustled out of his room, not even attempting to leave a parting word with Keiji.

After knocking on Asahi’s door, he didn’t have much time to wait, and was about to walk away when it finally opened, just a bit. He shouldn’t have been surprised to see Kenma blinking at him through the crack.

“Is Asahi still around?” Yuu asked.

“He left, like, twenty minutes ago,” Kenma said. “You’re probably going to be late.”

“You’re right. Thanks.” The door was closed again before Yuu could give him a wave.

He was a couple minutes late to class, but no one seemed to notice. Asahi didn’t even look up from his notebook and Yuu was instantly discouraged. He sank into a seat at the back of the classroom and propped open the book of short stories that he hadn’t read, hoping to at least glean some info from it for the impending quiz.

It was obvious he didn’t glean enough, though, and he accepted the failed quiz a classmate handed back to him after a round of trade and grade. He pulled out his notebook and prepared himself for the class discussion.

Forty-five minutes later, the class was over, and the notebook page had the day’s date and topic but was otherwise blank. His mind, however, was filled. His eyes had hardly left Asahi the entire class. He had a perfect image of the back of Asahi’s head sketched into his mind; soft, dark brown hair pulled up into its usual bun with a few wisps falling loose, a small mole on his neck below his left ear, the tag sticking out of the t-shirt he wore under a sweater telling Yuu he wore a large.

As Asahi was packing up, Yuu walked up to him. “Hey, Asahi!”

Asahi jumped a little, not expecting to be approached. “Oh, Yuu,” he said.

“Yes, me.” Yuu grinned, then continued, “Interesting story, huh?” He was not at all prepared to bullshit anything, but wanted to at least sound somewhat smart.

Asahi considered it. “Kind of messed up, if you ask me,” he said.

“Yeah.” Yuu paused and licked his lips in thought. “Hey, I’ve got some time before I have to get ready for practice. Wanna grab some coffee or something?”

Asahi finished packing up his bag and slowly turned his eyes to Yuu. “Oh, uhm, I actually have another class in twenty minutes. I’m sorry.”

Yuu waved his hands dismissively. “Don’t worry about it,” he said.

“M-maybe I can stop by the field afterwards, though,” he offered.

Yuu lit up and nodded vigorously, surprised that he had remembered the suggestion from earlier. “Okay!” he said. “Do you know where the practice field is?”

Asahi nodded. 

“Where’s your next class at?” Yuu asked. “Can I walk with you?”

“It’s in Meade,” Asahi said. “And, I mean, I can’t stop you. You’re allowed to walk wherever you want.” He gave Yuu a small but playful grin.

“Practice starts at four and goes until eight,” Yuu said as they left the classroom. “I don’t expect you to stick around the whole time. But you can at least come down and say hi.”

Asahi nodded. “My class is out at 5:15,” he said.

“What class?”

“Intro anthro.”

“Very cool. Is it everything you hoped it would be?”

“Honestly?” Asahi said with a sigh. “It’s all stuff I already knew.”

Yuu let out a small laugh. “I guess that’s what happens when you have to start from the beginning with something you’re already passionate about.” He looked up and noted Asahi’s pink cheeks as he glanced away.

“I don’t know if I’d call it a passion,” he said. “Just a curiosity, I suppose.”

“Either way, it’s nice that you already have an idea of what you’re interested in.”

“But you have soccer,” Asahi protested.

“Yeah. I guess sometimes I just wish I had more…intellectual interests, y’know?”

Asahi thought about it for a moment before answering. “People always told me I should play sports, and for a really long time, I kept trying different ones just to see if maybe they were right. It wasn’t fun. There were some I was okay at, ones I could even be good at if I kept trying, but none that I really liked enough to stick with. I felt like I was letting people down, or like I was wasting some kind of potential.” He looked down at Yuu, whose mouth remained shut and eyes remained focused. “I don’t like disappointing people,” he admitted. “You asked me what I did in my gap year. I spent a lot of time thinking about what I wanted, instead of what others expected of me. I was lucky to have parents who supported that.” He trailed off and rubbed his neck. “A-anyway… What I’m trying to say is, it doesn’t really matter what other people are doing or what they think you should do. You just need to do your own thing. You’re an amazing athlete, so you don’t need intellectual interests or whatever. But if there’s something you want, or somewhere you want to be, you should go after it no matter what.”

Asahi’s speech seemed to be over and Yuu stared at him for a moment. “Wow,” he said. “Wow, Asahi, that was… That was so _cool_. You sounded so wise! Wow!” The words stuck in his brain, right next to the image from class, something he would hold onto forever.

Asahi scratched his cheek with a nervous chuckle. “It wasn’t that great,” he said. “Probably just something I read somewhere.”

Yuu slapped his back genially, causing him to stumble. “Don’t be modest. You’re a really smart guy. I really admire that.” He grinned.

They stopped at the bottom of the stone steps leading up to Meade Hall. “Thank you,” Asahi said, smiling through the burning blush on his cheeks.

“I should let you go,” Yuu said. “Good luck in class. I’ll see you later.”

\--

Asahi watched Yuu leave before turning and walking up the steps. He felt so stupid, but he wasn’t quite sure why. The words had just sort of bubbled out of him, and he felt a little bit like Yuu rushed away, and he just felt so stupid. He shouldn’t have said anything. He should have just let it go. He hated when he got like that.

But Yuu had called him smart. Yuu said he admired him. Something warm settled in his stomach, something cozy that tried so hard to fight off the chill of anxiety and doubt. 

Needless to say, he couldn’t focus during class. His notes were open, his eyes were ahead, but he had no idea what was happening around him. 5:15 couldn’t come soon enough.

He thought about what he had said, and Yuu’s response, and the foreign feeling inside of him. As 4:00 rolled around, he thought about Yuu at practice. He had tried soccer once when he was in middle school, but it wasn’t his thing. He at least knew the gist of it well enough to imagine the practice. Yuu was a goalie, and Asahi could easily picture it, though the thought of tiny Yuu standing in the huge goal was almost comical. 

After class, he stopped at his room to drop off his bag.

Kenma looked up from his game and narrowed his eyes suspiciously. Asahi tried to ignore it, but he could feel those eyes on him as he moved around the room. He finally turned and returned the gaze, which Kenma couldn’t hold for long.

“You seem happy today,” Kenma commented.

“Do I?”

“Less tired than usual, anyway.”

“Hmm.” He moved back toward the door.

“Where’re you going?”

“I told Yuu I’d come watch a bit of his practice.”

A small smile appeared at the corners of Kenma’s lips. “Ah,” he said knowingly.

Asahi didn’t know what that was supposed to mean. “See you later,” he said, and left.

The practice was nearly half over by the time Asahi made it there. He had lied earlier; he didn’t know where the practice fields were. But he found it eventually. They were doing drills in front of both the goals, and Asahi easily spotted Yuu as he waited for a shot. Even from the stands, Asahi could see an impressive focus in his eyes. Yuu was stiller than Asahi had ever seen him, stiller than he ever could have imagined him to be. The kicker approached the ball and connected. If Asahi had blinked, he might have missed Yuu’s movement as he launched himself toward a corner of the goal, deflecting the ball away.

He watched in amazement for a dozen or so more shots and Yuu only missed one. Asahi didn’t know what the statistics were for college-level goalies, but he felt like that was impressive. After a few more rounds, the team took a break and headed to the sideline for some water. 

Asahi leaned on the railing of the bleachers trying to look casual, like he wasn’t watching Yuu and only Yuu. As he watched Yuu and only Yuu, though, he saw him happily laughing with his teammates, and then witnessed him sputter and drip water down the front of his jersey when he tried to drink too quickly. A smile crossed Asahi’s lips as he found himself flooded with happiness that Yuu seemed to have a place that he belonged.

Yuu caught him looking and the smile on his face grew wider as he waved over to the stands. “Asahi!” he called from the sideline. “You made it!”

Asahi waved back but didn’t know what to shout in response. Before he could figure something out, Yuu’s coach called the players back to practice.

He hadn’t originally intended to stay the entire time, but he got more enjoyment out of it than he had expected. Every save that Yuu made excited him and he wanted to see more. Every water break, Yuu would wave to him, and he’d wave back. And after a particularly amazing save, Yuu looked over to the stands with a grin, like he was showing off just a bit. 

The last half hour of practice was a scrimmage, and Asahi got to see Yuu really shine. He wasn’t lying when he said the first string goalie wasn’t all that great; Yuu’s team pulled ahead in no time, and it wasn’t because their offense was particularly good. Even though the first string’s offense made it through the second string’s defense on numerous occasions, Yuu didn’t let a single shot in, much to their annoyance. They then got annoyed with their own goalie who let in two of the three shots the second stringers took.

When they finished, Asahi stepped out of the stands and onto the grass. The team was dispersing, mostly back to the locker room, but Yuu jogged over to Asahi.

“What’d you think?” he asked, beaming.

“You looked pretty cool out there,” Asahi admitted.

Yuu’s smiled broadened. “Told you I was awesome.”

“I didn’t doubt you.”

Yuu ran a hand through his sweaty hair. “Hey, Asahi,” he said. “I was thinking about what you said earlier.”

Asahi swallowed. He had spent a lot of time thinking about it, too. “Oh?”

“You said that if there was something I wanted, I should go after it.”

His heart thumped in his chest, but he didn’t quite know why. He couldn’t even formulate a guess of where Yuu was going. “Yeah?”

A soft smile was on Yuu’s face, almost shy as he toyed with the hem of his jersey. “And, well, I thought maybe, if you wanted it, too, if maybe we could possibly go on a date sometime?”

“Okay,” Asahi said. He didn’t even have to think about it.

Yuu looked up at him with those shining eyes. “Yeah?”

Asahi nodded. “Yeah,” he said. “I’d like that.” He smiled.

“I’d hug you, but I’m kinda sweaty and gross right now.”

Asahi didn’t care. He usually would have cared, but he didn’t. Something inside of him told him this was right. He laughed and hugged Yuu anyway.

“Asahi!” Yuu laughed. “You’re gonna get your sweater gross!”

Asahi let him go, smiling. “Dinner?” he asked.

“Tonight?”

“Why not?” Asahi asked with a shrug, feeling emboldened. “I mean, if you want.”

Yuu nodded so hard Asahi thought his head might fall off. “Let me just get cleaned up!”

“And not the dining hall?”

“Yeah, I think that will work for me.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you everyone for reading! I had so much fun writing this and I hope you all enjoyed it. If you want to come visit me on [Tumblr](http://tiredasahi.tumblr.com/) you most definitely can, and if you really enjoyed the fic, I would love if you checked out and maybe reblogged the corresponding [Tumblr post](http://tiredasahi.tumblr.com/post/153931371357/no-matter-what-princemito-haikyuu-archive)! :D


End file.
